New system to simplify purchasing process

“The University has long needed to change its purchasing process. Departments and other parts of the organisation have wanted a system in which an order has to be approved before being placed with a supplier,” says Ellen Leijon, project manager of the purchasing project at the Financial Administration and Procurement Division.

The University has entered into an agreement with Visma Proceedo, who provide the e-commerce solution Proceedo. When a purchase is made via the system, approval – in other words, authorisation is required before an order is placed with a supplier. This results in better control over orders and ensures the purchase is approved in advance.

When the goods are delivered, the client checks via the system that the delivery and price are correct and if everything is correct, no further measures are needed before the purchase is ready for payment.

“This makes the purchasing process more secure. Before an order for goods or services is placed in the system, the order must be authorised by a manager or other person with budget responsibility. The University will follow the state sector rules requiring purchases to be approved before being executed. This also gives the person responsible for authorising purchases the opportunity to say no to a purchase.”

Authorisation via mobile phone

To promote an efficient order flow, the goal is to make authorisation of orders as quick as possible. To facilitate processing, it will be possible to authorise orders and invoices via a mobile phone.

A manager can also delegate the decision to authorise, in accordance with the University’s order of delegation and guidelines on the delegation of authorisation rights.

The new purchasing process is intended to promote a more efficient purchasing organisation. Fundamentally, it is a matter of changing the way we look at and handle purchases. Many people at the University currently order goods and services, and many want to be able to choose and to make their own purchases, but this is not cost-effective in the long term.

Creating good customers

The University has up to 4,000 licences at its disposal in the e-commerce system and all members of staff who will have a role in Proceedo will also need a licence. The introduction of Proceedo will mean a more organised purchasing process in which not all members of staff will be able personally to order goods or services.

Those members of staff who are allocated a licence in the system will be able to see the product range, make or authorise orders, and support their colleagues in coding and managing orders and invoices. Everyone who receives a licence will receive training in the system before it is rolled out.

“From what we have seen, far from all members of staff place orders, so there is good reason to believe that this set-up will work well,” Leijon says. “One potential result is that the system will save time across the organisation, since those who place orders will become very competent at ordering goods or services.”

The implementation of Proceedo has begun and is planned to be completed in autumn 2024.

Gunilla Sthyr